Hi everyone, it's Adam (your fave tech reviewer) here with another review for you all! Today we are here to talk about the Apple Watch Ultra, which I have been using for a few weeks now so I want to share my thoughts with you all. As I don't spend my days 100’s of metres under water or hanging off of the side of mount Everest, this is from the perspective of an everyday guy doing everyday stuff.
Display
This is probably what a lot of people are interested in most, honestly there's not that much more screen than the 45mm series 8, yes it's bigger but you're probably not gonna notice it from day to day unless you hold both watches up against each other. One thing you will notice is the completely flat display which I definitely prefer. It's less open to getting all scratched up and less likely to get damaged in general. Something that 99% of people will take advantage of is the new 2000 nits of brightness, which is just insane. For context, the Apple Watch SE and Series 8 only have 1000 nits, which is enough to be honest, but when you're outside, in direct sunlight, the ultra still looks so clear without struggle, and I love it, it's just a nice quality of life improvement.
Design
So this is the part I’ve hummed and hared about the most. At first when Apple first unveiled the Ultra I was 50/50. This is mainly because I also love the design of my Apple Watch Series 7, the ultra thin bezel, and the screen that bleeds over the sides of the watch, it looks stunning. And here comes the but… as soon as I got my hands on the Ultra, the 7 was yesterday's news. I instantly fell in love with the big chunky present design of the Apple Watch ultra, and a few weeks later I’m still admiring it. This is obviously personal preference and you may hate the design of the ultra but my best advice would be to go to an Apple Store if you can and try one one, it's very different to what you would expect after seeing the marketing.
Battery life
Apple really went all out with this one. In the past, and even with the newly released Apple Watch series 8 and SE the battery life has been very weak on Apple watches. That changes today. The Apple Watch Ultra has double the battery life of any other Apple watch- at least in Apple’s claims, but do those claims hold up? They absolutely do. I love the battery life, it just doesn't die. Honestly if you don't use it to track any workouts you could go for days with the ultra!! I'm yet to try the low power mode but I'm assuming that would be insane battery life, especially with light use.
Bands
This could have been a massive deal breaker for me personally. I have a lot of old watch bands in the 42/44/45mm sizes and I was pleased to say the least when I learned that the 49mm ultra would be compatible with all of the above. I love all of my bands so I don't even know if I would have tried the Ultra if it hadn't been compatible with the older bands, also I'm not a huge fan of any of the Ultra bands. I got the orange alpine loop with mine, and it's ok but I prefer my other bands. I think the Ultra bands are great for what they are intended for, they're just not for me. I think you can really change up the vibe of the ultra with a different band and face.
My overall experience
So as a casual user what has my experience been like? Honestly, I've really enjoyed it! The screen is so big which is a massive advantage for me, I love the bigger display everything just looks clearer. Another highlight for me which I mentioned earlier is the brighter 2000 nits display which looks great all of the time and sometimes I just stop to admire it. I love how it looks with all of my older bands too, the design has really grown on me and I think it looks great on my wrist!
Overall, I would say I've enjoyed it, but I'm definitely not the target audience for this watch. I just like it, and I know there's a lot of stuff this watch can do that I will never take advantage of and I'm ok with that! Most people shouldn't buy this watch, afterall the series 8 is also a beautiful watch but if you want the best you can get, then this watch may be for you! One thing I would recommend is that you go and try it on before you buy it, it's very different in person!
Another tidbit before the end of this review- the cable included in the box with the Ultra is braided!
Thanks for reading my friends! I'll catch you all next time for my AirPods Pro 2 review!
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